Persia (disambiguation)
=History= The Safavids represented the first truly native empire to rule the Iranian heartland after almost a millenium of foreign domination by Arab and Turkic rulers since the fall of the Sassanians. This empire, through its central location between Europe and Asia, and attempts at creating a modern military and society, would achieve hegemony over not only present-day Iran (rougly around 1511 AD) but over Iraq, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia as well, but would collapse due to a variety of pressures, giving rise to the Afsharids and the Zands in the 18th century who would then give way to the Qajars towards the 19th century. Shining Sun of the Shahs The Safavids originally hailed from Azerbaijan, and spoke both Turkic Azeri - a Turkic language - and Persian. In contrast to previous Muslim dynasties in the region, the Safavids were Shiites and legitimised their authority by claiming descent from the Prophet. Ismail I (1487-1524 AD) was the scion of the Safavids, and its ruling House of Ismail. He was born to a Sufi sheikh, Haydar, and could also trace his lineage back all the way to the Greek rulers of 15th century Trebizond on his mother's side. Prior to his own death, Haydar had organised his own religious sect into a fighting force which would be later known to the world as the Qizilbash (or "Red Heads/Turbans" in Ottoman Turkish). Ismail I would subsequently come to inherit his father's holdings and using this fighting force, inspired by religion, to make war and unite the petty Iranian city-states under his rule by 1510. Ismail would be succeeded by his own son, Tahmasp, under whose reign Iran was to enjoy renewed prosperity and cultural influence. Although Tahmasp I like his father was a gifted commander and not only repelled the Ottomans from his territory and even expanded Iran's borders into the Caucasus, his greatest achievements were cultural ones. In response to the disruption of trade during the invasions of the Ottoman Turks, he encouraged the production of rugs and carpets, for which Iran would be famous for to this very day. Another important event was the arrival of the fugitive prince Humayun from India. Tahmasp accepted Humayan cordially and when Humayan left, he also left with a number of Persian retainers. It was this contact with Safavid Iran that would eventually give rise to Mughal culture and architecture in India. Tahmasp's grandson Abbas was a fairly enlightened ruler. Ruling from Esfahan, Abbas would establish contact with the European nations (who saw Iran as a vital partner in the struggle against power-hungry Turks) and modernise the army. In an attempt to curtail the power of the Qizilbash, Abbas introduced ghilman or ghulams (who functioned like the knights of Mediaeval Europe in that they swore fealty to the Shah) and equipped his army with gun-armed infantry, known as tofangchis. The Afsharids and the Zands Despite the general appearance of wealth, power and security, the Safavid court was weak and fractured. Shahs were often weak rulers who came under the power of their ministers, which often resulted in court intrigues and corruption. Additionally, the prolific output of New Spain's mineral wealth also resulted in inflation for nations which still depended on precious metals as a currency, and Iran was not spared. Thus, by the mid-18th century, the Iranian empire was poised on collapse. The Afghan provinces declared independence as the Hotaki empire in 1709, while a military officer named Nader Afshar eventually usurped the Peacock Throne in 1736, crowning himself as Nader Shah of the Afsharids and then proceeding to putting the House of Ismail to the sword. Nader Shah would prove to be the last greatest conqueror in the world well until Napoleon, and expanded his empire from Iran all the way to Delhi. While he was a gifted tactician, Nader Shah was like Tamerlane (who was his own personal hero) a poor administrator and soon his own empire would collapse. History would repeat itself again and the Afsharids would soon be deposed by one of their own servants, just as how the Safavids were deposed by Nader Shah. A general, Karim Khan Zand, would defect from Afsharid service, take Isfahan and establish the Zand dynasty by 1760. The new dynasty was even more ephemeral than the Safavids, lasting only a tenth as long. Despite the general benevolence of Zand rule compared with the Afsharids, the Zands would like the Safavids themselves wind up with weak monarchs and internecine conflict, leaving them open to other pretenders to the throne. Iran eclipsed: The Qajars The next century to follow after the Zands was not kind to the Iranians. In 1789 Lotf Ali Khan (ruled 1789-94) proclaimed himself as the new Zand king and took energetic action to put down a rebellion led by Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar that had begun at Karim Khan's death. Outnumbered by the superior Qajar forces, Lotf Ali Khan was finally defeated and captured at Kerman in 1794. His defeat marked the final eclipse of the Zand dynasty, which was supplanted by that of the Qajars. Although the Qajars would re-assert Iranian supremacy over the Caucasus, they were neither as prosperous as the Safavids nor did they enjoy any power or expansion as the Afsharids under Nader Shah did. Instead, the Qajar dynasty would be known as an era of political infighting and backwardness. Attempts by the Shah to introduce modernisation into the country would often backfire, or set the Shah against the religious conservatives, who had held sway in the wake of the weak rule of previous dynasties. Various foreign powers would also interfere with politics, while the Russians would repeatedly harass Iran in 1804 and again in 1826. During the Great War (1914-1918), Iran was effectively occupied by Entente forces. With a decrepit economy, political instability and virtually no prestige left, a palace coup in 1925 replaced Ahmad Shah, the last Qajar ruler, with Reza Pahlavi, a military officer, while Ahmad Shah was away in Europe. The ex-Shah never set foot in Iran again and died in 1930, while the Pahlavis would rule Iran until they were toppled in the Revolution of 1979. Sources Iranica Online |}